


The Nearness of You

by girl_next_door_writes



Category: Man of Steel (2013), Superman - Fandom
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-15
Updated: 2020-06-15
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:54:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24738817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/girl_next_door_writes/pseuds/girl_next_door_writes
Summary: A heartbroken Clark celebrates his mother’s birthday and finds that sometimes the sweetest moments are the unexpected ones.
Relationships: Clark Kent x Reader, Clark x reader
Comments: 6
Kudos: 46





	The Nearness of You

Clark sat on the steps, watching the dance floor being put together, with mixed emotions. He was glad to be home, glad to spend time with his mom, especially her birthday, but this was yet another event he had been planning on attending with Lois. Another reminder of the heartache. Another reminder that he was alone. 

“I’d offer you a penny for your thoughts, but from the look on your face I’d say they were weightier than that. Maybe a dollar?” Martha smiled down at her son before taking a seat beside him. 

“It’s looking good.” He nodded towards the trestle tables and half erected wooden dance floor. “I should go help.”

“You already offered fifteen times, just let the boys do it.” Martha patted his knee as she looked at him with a sad smile. She knew exactly what was going on behind those soulful eyes. It was the same thing that had been playing on his mind every time she had seen him over the last few months. “You will find someone. I know it hurts but I don’t believe you are destined to be alone forever.”

“Find someone for ‘Clark’, or someone for ‘Superman’?” he sighed, not meeting her gaze. 

“Let’s start by saying that ‘Superman’ is part of ‘Clark’. You will find someone who loves all of you, just give yourself some time.”

“It’s been eight months.” Clark turned his head to look at his mother and felt his shoulders slump. “I don’t want her back, I just…”

“You miss having someone. I understand that. You’ve just gotta make sure it’s the right someone.” Before Martha could continue to dispense her advice she saw you approaching, carrying a rather large box.

“Hi Martha, I’ve brought the cake. You want it setting up out here or in the kitchen?” You asked, peaking over the top of the box at the birthday girl.

“Hi honey. Just bring it through to the kitchen.” Martha got to her feet, ready to lead the way, and gave you a warm smile. The two of you had built up quite the friendship since you became neighbors, and she had come to think of you as the daughter she never had.

“Okay. It, erm, kinda ended up being a little larger than I initially planned so you might be eating cake for a while.” You apologized, shifting the weight of the box a little.

“That’s fine. I’ve got Clark here so no doubt it’ll be gone before I know it.” Clark came into view over the box as he got to his feet, giving you room to pass.

“Oh, hi Clark.” He could see you were smiling from the way your eyes lit up.

“You always make the best cakes, I’m happy to eat the extra.” Clark gave you a crooked smile before walking down the remaining steps. “I’m gonna go hang the lights. It was nice seeing you again.”

“You too.” He found himself turning to watch you enter the house, a smile on his face and his troubles momentarily forgotten.

The sun had long since set, but the party showed no signs of wrapping up. The dance floor was illuminated by a blanket of fairy lights, suspended above it like a multitude of stars, giving the dancers a slightly ethereal glow. Clark cast his eyes around the crowd, a soft smile on his lips. All the people here to celebrate with his mother, it warmed his heart. There were times he worried about her being lonely, worried he was too far away, but seeing this helped ease that concern. 

His eyes fell upon you, sitting atop a low fence over on the other side of the party, and he felt a fluttering in his chest. You were lit up by the soft dim light of the lanterns he had hung earlier, your hair seemed to glimmer, and he couldn’t help but marvel at how beautiful you looked. Unrestrained joyful laughter fell from your lips as Old Mrs Jenkins spoke to you, rather animatedly, and it looked as if you were hanging on her every word. He had noticed that about you, that you seemed to be genuinely interested in people and horded any and all detail about them that you could. You instinctively seemed to know how to make people smile, make them feel that they mattered. 

“I think maybe she needs rescuing. You know Mrs Jenkins can go on.” Martha had appeared by his side and followed his gaze, a knowing smile pulling at her lips when she spotted you.

Clark quickly averted his eyes, looking down bashfully as he felt a heat caress his skin. “I’m sure she’ll be just fine.” He muttered as he brought his hand up to cover the telling flush on the back of his neck. 

“Clark. Be the gentleman I know I raised and go ask the girl to dance. Consider it my birthday wish.”

Shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans, Clark meandered through the small crowd, navigating a path around the dancefloor with a nervous energy he wasn’t entirely sure what to do with. He didn’t know why he was feeling this way. It was just you. In the last year, since you moved into the house on the neighboring farm, he’d had several conversations with you. True, most of them had been led by his mother, or just exchanging pleasantries, but why should something as simple as asking you to dance have him feeling anxious and tongue tied? 

As he approached, closing the final few yards, you looked up. Your brow furrowed ever so slightly before you raised an eyebrow questioningly, the corners of your mouth quirking up a little and it felt as if every breath in his body had been squeezed from him. Unable to speak, he offered you his hand and tilted his head towards the dancefloor in a silent offer. 

“Go on dear, it’s not every day you get the chance to dance with such a handsome young man.” Mrs Jenkins grinned, her words causing you to let out that heart stopping laugh that made Clark’s skin tingle.

Hopping down from where you had perched on the fence, you slipped your hand into his and headed towards the wooden decking. The music transitioned from an upbeat floor filler to a soft, gentle, slow song, and Clark swallowed thickly as the pair of you came to a stop in a space near the center of the dancefloor. His hand automatically came to rest on your hip as he began to sway to the Norah Jones song that had now enveloped you. He was incredibly aware of how your hand slid over his bicep and onto his broad shoulder, and it was as if the rest of the world receded. 

Clark was so used to having to focus, to keep the noise of the whole world out of his head, but it was almost as if he was now hyper-focused on you. The way your chest rose and fell as you breathed. The tender caress of your fingertips against his plaid shirt. The way you leaned into him, your head resting against his chest. His eyes widened in surprise and he glanced up, catching his mother and Mrs Jenkins watching the pair of you. The look of pride on Martha’s face and the thumbs up Mrs Jenkins gave him, brought a shy smile to his lips, and he looked back down at you as he held you closer. 

Your eyes were closed as he shifted the way he was holding your hand, interlacing your fingers as he rested his cheek on the top of your head. The song came to an end, replaced by something a little more up tempo once more, but the two of you stayed lost in your moment, swaying gently beneath the blanket of stars twinkling through the fairy lights above you, in the moment where Clark needed nothing but the nearness of you.


End file.
